Ben Greenfield, PhD

Ben Greenfield is an Associate Professor of Public Health who joined the USM faculty in 2020. His professional background is at the interface between environmental science and public health. Dr. Greenfield studies how industrial contamination and other human activities have affected the environment, and how these environmental impacts in turn affect people. His recent research include mercury and PCB contamination in fish, human health hazards from contaminated sediments (mud), environmental occurrence of antibiotic resistance, and lead levels in roadside soils. Greenfield maintains active collaborations with scientists in Nanjing, China and in the St. Louis, Missouri region, where he previously held a faculty position at Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville (SIUE). Greenfield is currently a co-investigator on an NIH SEPA grant and an NSF iTEST grant with SIUE researchers. These grants evaluate whether middle-school aged children who investigate their local environments using portable environmental sensors develop an interest in science and identify as scientists. Greenfield’s teaching interests include flipped instruction and other learner-focused methods; he has largely taught courses in environmental and occupational health, epidemiology, statistics for non-statisticians, and professional development topics.